


With a Single Step

by SecretMaker



Series: Wanderlust [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Getting Together, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Soulmate Compasses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-12
Updated: 2017-07-12
Packaged: 2018-12-01 02:49:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11477049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SecretMaker/pseuds/SecretMaker
Summary: The needles on Koushi’s wrists had always felt like home. One yellow, one blue, they twirled around one another endlessly, always pointing at something greater than Koushi could even begin to imagine. He wondered about the people they pointed to, his soulmates. As a child, he asked his mother a million questions about what kind of people they would be, what they would look like, what they would act like, what they would think of him. She would always pat his shoulder or ruffle his hair, smile, and promise that one day he would find out.“When you’re older,” she had always said, and Koushi had always believed her. When he was older, he would take a journey to follow the compasses to their ends. He would find his soulmates and all his questions would be answered at last. When he was older.Koushi was old enough.





	With a Single Step

The needles on Koushi’s wrists had always felt like home. One yellow, one blue, they twirled around one another endlessly, always pointing at something greater than Koushi could even begin to imagine. He wondered about the people they pointed to, his soulmates. As a child, he asked his mother a million questions about what kind of people they would be, what they would look like, what they would act like, what they would think of him. She would always pat his shoulder or ruffle his hair, smile, and promise that one day he would find out.

 

“When you’re older,” she had always said, and Koushi had always believed her. When he was older, he would take a journey to follow the compasses to their ends. He would find his soulmates and all his questions would be answered at last. When he was older.

 

“Koushi, you’re older _now,_ ” whined Akaashi, dangling across the half-wall that separated his station from the desk where Koushi sat working on a client’s tattoo design. Koushi rolled his eyes.

 

“Why is it so important to you anyway?” grumbled Koushi.

 

“Because everyone deserves true love,” replied Akaashi. “And because I love and care about you.”

 

“Okay, one,” said Koushi, holding up a finger, “just because they’re my soulmates does not mean they’re my true loves. They could be platonic, you don’t know.”

 

“Details,” muttered Akaashi.

 

“Two,” Koushi said loudly. “Two, you don’t love and care about me, you love and care about soulmates.”

 

“No, I do!” cried Akaashi. “You’re my very best friend and I just want you to be happy.”

 

“Yes, so you can leech off of that happiness and steal it for your own,” Koushi said. Akaashi grew quiet and serious, the way he was in front of customers and old ladies he wanted to impress.

 

“Koushi,” he said, and oh no, his voice was serious too. “Do you really believe that I would use you like that?”

 

“Yes,” said Koushi. Akaashi didn’t pout at him, though, which told Koushi this conversation was more serious than he’d imagined. “I think you do it out of love, though.”

 

“I genuinely want you to be happy,” Akaashi said. “You’ve been talking as long as I’ve known you about going on a soul journey. You’ve got the savings, and your job here will be waiting when you get back.” He swung himself over the wall and padded over to sit across the desk from Koushi. “There’s no better time to do it than now.”

 

“Even if you’re right,” said Koushi after some pause. Akaashi cheered. “I said if! Even _if_ you’re right, I wouldn’t even know where to start! What if they’re not in Japan? What if they’re not even in this hemisphere?”

 

“They move around too much to be more than a hemisphere away,” said Akaashi.

 

“Stop watching me so closely, you creep,” muttered Koushi. Akaashi smiled at him, that earnest little grin that was reserved for the people Akaashi knew well - for Koushi and Kenma and Iwaizumi and Oikawa - and Koushi knew he had lost. It didn’t stop him from fighting. “I have clients,” he tried.

 

“You have one appointment for Monday and then you’re on walk-ins for the rest of the week,” said Akaashi. “You can go on hiatus, and any customers will understand.”

 

“Okay, what about my apartment?” asked Koushi.

 

“You live above the shop,” said Akaashi. “You don’t pay rent. And Iwaizumi and I can take turns house sitting.”

 

“Akaashi,” said Koushi, but he was almost out of arguments. “Fine, what about you? I can’t leave you to your own devices.”

 

“I am a grown man,” said Akaashi. “I can take care of myself. But rest assured, if you stay, I will do everything in my power to make myself insufferable.”

 

“You’ve already done that,” Koushi muttered. He bit his lip and looked down at the table.

 

“Koushi.” Akaashi laid his hand on top of Koushi’s and squeezed gently. “This is what you’ve wanted for years. Don’t let your fear stop you again.”

 

Koushi stared for a moment at Akaashi’s compass, pointing somewhere over Koushi’s shoulder. He looked up at Akaashi’s earnest green eyes and sighed. “You’re right,” he said. “Of course you’re right. I’ll leave on Tuesday.” Akaashi cheered, getting up to do god knew what while Koushi drowned in the terror of finally having made the decision to go.

 

He looked down at the lines on his wrist and took a deep breath. For better or worse, he was going. His life would probably never be the same.

 

-

 

If Koushi was going on a journey to find his soulmates and live happily ever after, he was going to need coffee. Lots and lots of coffee. He stopped at the corner gas station down the road from the tattoo parlor and found the largest travel mug they offered. It was probably meant for soda rather than coffee, but Koushi couldn’t bring himself to care. He filled it a third of the way full of sugar, poured coffee on top of that and slapped the lid into place, and took a glorious sip. The coffee paid for, he headed back out to his car, glancing at his wrist to try and decide which direction he would go first.

 

One of the needles swept quickly to the side, too quickly for his soulmate to be more than a block or so away. It swept back the other direction, and Koushi’s heart picked up its tempo. The needle made one more sweep, and something in Koushi’s gut made him step back toward the gas station. He kept his eyes on his wrist as he half-jogged back to the shop. His needle leveled out and he looked up just in time to collide with someone coming through the door.

 

“Shit,” hissed the other person, either at the surprise of running into Koushi or the pain of Koushi’s coffee sloshing all over his shirt.

 

“I am so sorry,” Koushi cried, scrambling to his feet.

 

“No, no,” said the man, “it was my fault. I was… looking for someone, and I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”

 

Koushi’s heart skipped a beat. “Who were you looking for?” he asked. The man blushed, scratching at his shaved head.

 

“My soulmate,” he admitted. “I’m on a journey, and I think I’m getting close. I-” He looked down at his wrist, and Koushi did the same. He laughed.

 

“I was just leaving to look for you,” Koushi said, looking at the green needle that pointed at the man no matter how he moved his wrist. “I’m Sugwara Koushi. Most people call me Suga.”

 

“Tanaka Ryuunosuke,” said the man. “It’s good to finally meet you.”

 

-

 

“So, number three is up north,” said Tanaka. They were sitting in on a picnic table at a nearby park, chatting about nothing in particular. Koushi looked at his wrist and nodded. “I’ve been wandering around the city for about two days,” Tanaka continued. “I’ve still got two and a half weeks off work. If you wanted to go look for them with me. It would give us a chance to get to know each other.” Koushi wasn’t sure if he was making up the way Tanaka’s nose turned red when he blushed or if it was just the chill of the day, but it was cute either way.

 

“I think that’s a horrible idea,” Koushi said. “We don’t even know each other.”

 

“You’re going to go anyway,” Tanaka said thoughtfully.

 

“I am,” Koushi agreed. “Why am I?”

 

“Dunno,” said Tanaka, hopping off the park bench with a grin. “But I can’t wait to find out.”

 

He held out a hand to Koushi, looking for all the world like a gallant prince in a storybook, bald head and sharp grin and all. Koushi returned the grin and laid his hand in Tanaka’s.

 

It was a shock of lightning, a maelstrom of fire and wind twining its way up Koushi’s arm from the point of contact. He shivered at the intensity of it, and Tanaka’s grin grew a little softer, a little more sincere. Koushi laughed nervously and Tanaka echoed it.

 

“All right then, soulmate,” said Koushi, extracting his hand a little reluctantly now that he was on his feet again. “Let’s you and me discover the world together.

 

-

 

They went in Tanaka’s van, because it got better gas mileage and had more room to hold both of their luggage, and because Koushi’s apartment was closer and easier to drop his car off at. It was a heap of junk from the outside, at least fifteen years old and rusted all over. The inside was much nicer, with soft seats and a custom stereo system. The back row of seats was gone and in its place was a small mattress.

 

“This is my baby,” said Tanaka, sheepishly proud. “I got her when I graduated high school, with all of my savings. I wanted to start a band with my best friend, Noya.”

 

“Why didn’t you?” asked Koushi. Tanaka shrugged.

 

“Turns out you need some musical talent for that,” he said, and put the van in gear. “All right, navigator, tell me. Are they still in the north?”

 

“They are,” Koushi said, smiling down at his wrist. One needle pointed away in front of him, but the other was pointing directly to his right where Tanaka sat close enough to touch. So Koushi did, disguising the brush against Tanaka’s arm as a wide grab for Koushi’s coffee. From the way Tanaka’s lips quirked upward, he had been caught.

 

He didn’t really mind.

 

They drove for hours, sometimes talking and sometimes sitting in almost-comfortable silence. Tanaka, as it turned out, was surprisingly good at silence. He knew when to hum along to the radio and when to let the radio be and when to turn it off entirely. And he knew when to pull Koushi out of the silence.

 

“So, what do you think they’re like?” Tanaka asked.

 

“Who?” Koushi dragged himself out of a half-doze to blink at Tanaka. “Our soulmate?”

 

“Yeah. What kind of person do you think they’ll be like?”

 

“I don’t know,” Koushi admitted. “I don’t even really know what you’re like yet.”

 

“I’m a pretty simple guy,” Tanaka said with a shrug. “You’ll figure me out soon enough. I like meat and my friends and working out.”

 

“I think there’s more to you than that,” said Koushi. Tanaka glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. “After all, someone who just likes food wouldn’t go on a soul journey, would they?”

 

“Well, what about you?” asked Tanaka. “What do you like?”

 

“I like my friends,” Koushi said. “I like my shop and my apartment above it. I like tattoos and music and art and literature, and I really like sex. I like a lot of things.”

 

“And what do you dislike?” Koushi felt like the question was more than a throwaway thought to pass the time. Tanaka genuinely wanted to know.

 

“That’s a harder question to answer,” Koushi said.

 

“Answer it anyway.”

 

“I dislike bland food.” Tanaka laughed.

 

“Good start,” he said. “What else?”

 

“I dislike difficult questions.”

 

“Not an answer.”

 

“I dislike the thought of not being free to make my own choices,” Koushi blurted. “I dislike being controlled, or put into a box. Having my life lived for me.”

 

“That makes a lot of sense,” hummed Tanaka.

 

“How so?”

 

Tanaka took a moment before answering. “Well, I mean for one thing, tattoos aren’t exactly a thing that proper, upstanding people have. They’re not acceptable in polite society. And someone who likes that sort of thing wouldn’t have any, let alone be the kind of person who gives them to someone else.”

 

“So I’m a rulebreaker because of my job?” Koushi asked.

 

“Sort of,” Tanaka said. “I think the two factor into each other, but I think there’s more to the story.”

 

“What do you think there is?” Koushi asked.

 

“Dunno.” Tanaka glanced at him with a grin. “But I think some things are better to be found out than told right away.”

 

“Is there any part of me you aren’t going to dig your way into?” Koushi asked, a smile tugging at his face.

 

“Not if you’ll let me,” said Tanaka. “You know, you’re free to do your own digging, too. This is an equal opportunity dig session.”

 

“Oh, I don’t need to dig,” said Koushi.

 

“No?”

 

“No. You’ll tell me all your secrets of your own volition.” Tanaka threw his head back and laughed, and as he watched the golden late-afternoon sunlight hit the planes of Tanaka’s face and neck, Koushi thought that he had made a very good decision, indeed.

 

-

 

They were about halfway through Miyagi prefecture when the compass moved.

 

“Ryuu, get off at the next exit,” Koushi said.

 

“Yeah, I was thinking we should probably stop for the night myself,” yawned Tanaka.

 

“No,” said Koushi. “I mean the compass is pointing east now.” Tanaka looked much more alert then, changing lanes to take the next exit. He pulled the van into an hotel parking lot and stopped to stare down at his wrist. He looked up at Koushi and grinned.

 

“They’re here,” he said. “Our soulmate is somewhere in this town.”

 

“They might be in this town,” Koushi corrected. “But yeah, they’re probably in this prefecture.”

 

“They’re here!” Koushi laughed at how excited Tanaka was, bouncing up and down in his seat. “Hey, what are the odds of meeting both our soulmates in one day?”

 

“Slim to none,” said Koushi, but Tanaka’s grin refused to falter. “Come on, you. We should probably see if we can stay here tonight and then keep looking in the morning.”

 

“Good idea,” said Tanaka, still bouncing. “Hey, Suga?”

 

“Yeah?” Koushi was already pulling his seatbelt off and opening his door.

 

“Never mind.” Koushi looked up at Tanaka, but he was turned away, climbing out of the van. Koushi brushed it off and pulled his bag out of the back seat.

 

-

 

The hotel only had one room available, but it had two beds. Koushi only allowed himself to feel awkward about it for three and a half minutes, the time it took Tanaka to shower and emerge from the bathroom in nothing but a towel and a sheepish grin.

 

“Forgot my underwear,” he said, ducking past Koushi to get at his bag. Koushi shrugged at him and slipped into the bathroom himself. He chucked Tanaka’s clothes at him and closed the door. It was only when the shower was on and the water would block any sound that Koushi allowed himself to freak out.

 

“What the fuck,” he whispered. “What the fuck, what the fuck, what the _fuck_.” There was no way his soulmate was that hot. Koushi didn’t deserve that, and he especially didn’t deserve to have to sleep in the bed next to Tanaka’s knowing he was so attractive without his shirt. Without his shirt and with water dripping down his torso, disappearing under the line of a towel that was just a little too short and-

 

No.

 

No no nonononono. Koushi was not going down that road. Not when Tanaka was someone he only barely knew.

 

“Oh, god,” whined Koushi, turning his face to the spray. He barely knew Tanaka, and yet here he was, hours away from home, sharing a hotel room with him. It was easily the stupidest decision Koushi had ever made.

 

“Hey Suga?” Tanaka knocked on the door and half-shouted to be heard over the water, “I’m going out to find us some food. I’ll be back in twenty minutes or so, okay?”

 

“Okay!” shouted Koushi. He waited until he heard the door to the room close, and then waited another minute or so for good measure. Then he turned off the water and stepped out, grabbing one of the soft towels from the rack beside the shower.

 

He dried himself absently as he fished his phone out of his pocket, calling his most common contact and putting the phone on the counter on speaker. He pulled on his clothes and started ruffling his hair dry as it rang.

 

“Hello?” Akaashi answered on the very last ring, like he always did.

 

“Keiji, am I insane?” he asked.

 

“That depends,” Akaashi said. “Have you done anything particularly stupid lately?”

 

“I got in a car with a complete stranger and let him drive me to Miyagi,” Koushi said. There was a long pause.

 

“You _what_?” hissed Akaashi, in that low and dangerous tone he usually reserved for Oikawa and especially rude customers. Koushi willed himself not to shudder.

 

“In my defense, he is my soulmate,” Koushi said. “But that doesn’t mean anything, he’s still a stranger, and I just went with him, Keiji, I just got in his car and-”

 

“Koushi. Koushi!” Koushi shut his mouth with an audible click. “You didn’t get into a car with just any stranger, love, said Akaashi. “You got into a car with your soulmate. And I assume you’re in Miyagi because you’re looking for the other one.”

 

“We’re a matched triad,” Koushi said. “Both Tanaka and I have the same compass.”

 

“That’s incredible,” breathed Akaashi. “So, do you think you’ll find them soon?”

 

“Who knows,” Koushi said. He scooped up the phone and made his way into the room, taking it off speaker. “I think they’re somewhere in this prefecture. Tanaka hopes they’re in this town.”

 

“What’s Tanaka like?” asked Akaashi. Koushi hummed, thinking the question over.

 

“He’s sweet,” he said at last. “He’s really earnest, and he seems really loyal. And fun.”

 

“Is he hot?” Koushi laughed.

 

“Yeah,” he said. “He’s pretty hot. In an edgy sort of way.”

 

“You’d better be talking about me.” The door opened and Tanaka appeared carrying a sack full of containers and a wonderful smell.

 

“That had better be food for me,” returned Koushi. “Were you just waiting outside the door to see if I would talk about you?”

 

“Is that him?” asked Akaashi. “Let me talk to him!”

 

“You can’t talk to him,” Koushi said to Akaashi. “Besides, I think he lives in Tokyo-” Tanaka nodded “-so you’ll be able to meet him when we get back.”

 

“I’m holding you to that,” said Akaashi.

 

“Whatever. See you soon.” Akaashi said an absentminded goodbye and hung up the phone before Koushi could return it. Koushi rolled his eyes and dropped the phone onto the bed.

 

“I didn’t know what you’d like,” Tanaka said a little sheepishly, setting the bag down on the desk across the room, “so I just got mapo tofu. It was the first thing I saw on the menu.”

 

“My favorite,” Koushi said. Tanaka’s face lit up.

 

“Really?” Koushi nodded.

 

“I usually get it extra spicy, but I like it any way,” he said. Tanaka grinned and handed him a box.

 

“I didn’t get it spicy,” he said, “but next time. Promise. Who were you on the phone with?”

 

“Akaashi. He’s one of my best friends, and my business partner. He’s the one who sent me on this journey.” Tanaka took his own box of food and sat on the other bed, crossing his legs and facing Koushi like a kid at story time.

 

“What’s he like?” Tanaka asked. Koushi laughed.

 

“He asked me the same thing about you. He loves soulmates, everything about them. Let’s see.” Koushi tapped his chopsticks against his chin, thinking. “He puts up a very serious front. Very proper, manner-oriented, wouldn’t say shit if he had a mouthful of it. But underneath that he’s a pile of sass, and underneath _that_ he’s really just an excited little kid. You just have to know the right topic to get him going.”

 

“What sorts of topics?” asked Tanaka.

 

“Well, soulmates for one,” answered Koushi. “And music. He’s a really talented violinist, and he plays the piano and cello too. And the guitar, I think, but he’s never given a concert for that.”

 

“How did someone like that end up working in a tattoo shop?” Tanaka asked.

 

Koushi laughed. “The same way I did,” he said. “One day my parents were getting after me about going to school and accomplishing something in the world. They wanted me to be a lawyer or a doctor or a politician, something respectable, you know? But I didn’t want any of that. I didn’t know what I wanted, just, something that was my choice and not theirs. So one day Keiji comes to me with this _look_ in his eye, like he’s about to take on the world with one hand tied behind his back, and said ‘Koushi, I’m opening a tattoo parlor, and you’re opening it with me’. We were sixteen at the time.”

 

“So you just did it?” Tanaka asked.

 

“Well, first we had to learn,” Koushi said. “He pulled some strings and got us both part-time apprenticeships at this shop while we were still in high school. By the time we graduated, we were working there as artists, and when I was twenty-three we bought our shop together. But it was all because of him. When he puts his mind to something, he never gives up.”

 

“He sounds like a great guy,” Tanaka said.

 

“He is. I just wish I could be more like him.”

 

“I think you should be more like you,” Tanaka said. Koushi blinked at him. “Sorry, you weren’t really asking for advice,” he said, blushing and looking away.

 

“No, what did you mean?” asked Koushi. Tanaka’s blush deepened, his nose turning red.

 

“I mean, it sounds like your whole life you’ve been trying to be someone else. Your parents’ son, or Akaashi’s friend, or even my soulmate. But you deserve to be you. The you-est you you can be. You know?”

 

“I don’t…” Koushi rubbed at the back of his neck. “I don’t know how to do that.”

 

“Well, maybe we can figure it out together,” Tanaka said. Koushi smiled.   


“I’d like that,” he said. “I’d like that a lot.”

 

There was a long period of silence, and for the first time it had a tinge of awkwardness to it. Then Tanaka looked up and took a deep breath, like he was steeling himself. “Hey, Suga?” he said. “I just wanted to say… thanks for taking a chance on me.”

 

“What do you mean?” asked Koushi, though he had a feeling he already knew.

 

“I mean, we just met,” Tanaka said. “I could be anyone, but you decided to trust me and go on this trip with me. I… Thanks.”

 

Koushi smiled. “Thank you,” he said.

 

“For what?”

 

“For not being a serial killer.” Tanaka laughed. “For being you,” Koushi said. “The you-est you you can be.” Tanaka laughed louder, sweeter. They lapsed into silence once more, though this one wasn’t awkward at all. It was nice.

 

-

 

Kei was beyond done with this day. The customers at his part-time job from hell had been especially demanding and his boss had been on his ass all day long. To top it off, it had started raining halfway through his walk home and his umbrella had flipped inside-out. He slogged into a corner store with soggy shoes and a scowl on his face.

 

He was picking through the shitty sandwiches on display when the bell above the door rang and two guys about Kei’s age walked in. Kei shuffled around to the other side of a display rack, hoping they would leave him alone. He bit back a sigh and grabbed a sandwich at random.

 

“They’ve got to be in this town. There’s too much activity for them to be far.” The two men had gotten close, just on the other side of a rack of chips. Kei took a careful step away, pouring over a selection of teas. The last thing Kei needed was a couple of wackjobs on a soul journey making his day any more chaotic than it already was.

 

There were too many types of tea, and none of them mattered in the slightest. Much like the rest of Kei’s life. Dead-end job, shitty apartment, a degree he wasn’t using. Nothing of note ever happened to him, and the older he got the more it seemed like nothing ever would. He grabbed a bottle of tea and turned toward the counter to pay, only to collide with one of the men on the soul journey.

 

“I’m so sorry,” said the man, a pretty, small thing with lovely silver hair. “I didn’t see you there.” Kei thought that was unlikely, considering how tall Kei was, but he let it slide. The other man, almost as short but bald and sharp where his companion was soft, eyed Kei like he was waiting for a fight. Kei only just resisted the urge to roll his eyes, instead nodding curtly at the pretty man and continuing his journey to the register.

 

He managed to pay and make his escape from the store before there was a shout behind him.

 

“Wait!” It was the bald man, darting out into the rain without so much as a jacket. “Hey, wait up a minute!”

 

Kei wasn’t sure what made him stop, but he slowed and looked back at the man. He caught up, grinning up at Kei like all his dreams had just come true. “Yes?” Kei asked impatiently. The rain had let up some, but not enough to make standing outside and chatting a viable option.

 

“What’s your name?” asked the man. Kei stared at him incredulously. “You know?” the man prompted. “Like, I’m Tanaka Ryuunosuke, this is Sugawara Koushi. And you are…?”

 

“…Tsukishima Kei,” answered Kei. “What do you want?”

 

“You’re our soulmate,” said Sugawara. “We just wanted to talk to you.”

 

Kei looked down at his wrist. He had been largely disinterested in the trio of needles there for most of his life. He knew one, the yellow one, pointed to Yamaguchi, but he had never cared about the other two. There were just too many people, spread out all across the world, to think that he would ever meet all three of his soulmates. One was enough for him.

 

Except…

 

Except Yamaguchi was in Tokyo, studying to be a veterinarian, and Kei was still in Miyagi. They talked on the phone every night, and every night, Yamaguchi tried to convince Kei to move to the city with him. Maybe running into the people his other two needles pointed to was fate sending him a sign.

 

“Okay,” he said, still staring down at the red and blue lines on his wrist. “Okay, I’m listening.”

 

-

 

Koushi was still a little bit in shock. He had no idea how they had run into Tsukishima or how either of them had noticed before he’d slipped away entirely. And now they were here, sitting in the hotel room eating convenience store sandwiches and trying to get Tsukishima to tell them about himself.

 

It wasn’t going particularly well.

 

“There isn’t much more to tell,” Tsukishima said. “I work in insurance, I live alone, I don’t have any hobbies or friends. My other soulmate is in Tokyo. That’s it.”

 

“Fine then,” Tanaka said genially. He was hanging off the bed, watching Tsukishima upside-down while blood rushed to his head. “Tell us about your other soulmate then. Maybe we’ll get to know you _that_ way.”

 

“Yamaguchi’s… great,” Tsukishima said, like he was admitting something he was reluctant to share. “He’s sweet and sassy and funny and my best friend in the world. We’ve been dating for years.”

 

“Why didn’t you move to Tokyo with him?” asked Koushi. Tsukishima flinched like Koushi had hit a nerve.

 

“I was still finishing my degree,” Tsukishima said. “And then, I don’t know, I just always stayed here. Couldn’t find the motivation to move.”

 

“And how about now?” asked Tanaka, sitting up and turning around to level Tsukishima with a serious look. “You’re clearly not jumping for joy about living here, and all three of your soulmates live in Tokyo. Why not pack up and find a new boring insurance job there? Or better yet, a job you’re actually passionate about?”

 

“What are you passionate about?” Koushi asked. Tsukishima’s cheeks turned a cute shade of pink and he muttered something under his breath. “What was that?”

 

“Dinosaurs,” Tsukishima repeated. “I’m passionate about dinosaurs.”

 

“That’s awesome!” crowed Tanaka, entirely sincere. “You’re so smart! Have you ever been to the Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo?”

 

“I haven’t,” admitted Tsukishima. Koushi tilted his head, a thought occurring to him.

 

“You don’t have to make this decision now,” he said. “And neither of us is going to think less of you if you decide to stay. But, if you ever visit us, we’d be more than happy to take you sometime.”

 

“You mean that?” Koushi wondered what it had cost for Tsukishima to be so earnest in the asking. It was frankly adorable, the way he was both disgruntled and awed.

 

“I do,” Koushi said. “If it’s something you really care about, then of course I want to share it with you.”

 

“It’s getting late,” said Tanaka. “Want me to drive you back to your place?”

 

Tsukishima accepted the offer and he and Tanaka left Koushi alone with his thoughts. He waited as long as he could stand before he pulled out his phone and called Akaashi.

 

“Did you find them?” Akaashi asked. Koushi snorted.

 

“Hello to you too, Keiji,” he droned.

 

“Hi. Did you find them?”

 

“We did,” Koushi conceded. “His name is Tsukishima Kei. We found our other soulmate.”

 

“That’s great,” Akaashi said. The door opened and Tanaka entered the room, looking exhilarated. Koushi grinned at him and he grinned back.

 

“It is great,” Koushi agreed. “Tanaka just got back from dropping him off, so I’m going to let you go. I just called to update you.”

 

“Well call again with more updates,” Akaashi said. Tanaka was staring at Koushi and Koushi was staring back. The room started to feel warm. “I mean it, Koushi.”

 

“I will,” Koushi promised, then hung up without saying goodbye. He dropped his phone and sat up a little straighter as Tanaka approached his bed.

 

“Suga, can I-” Koushi cut him off by standing and wrapping his arms around Tanaka’s neck. He stopped when their lips were only a breath apart.

 

“Please,” Koushi said. “Do.”

 

Tanaka closed the distance between them and then Koushi was kissing his soulmate. Tanaka made a small, broken sound and pulled away, leaning his forehead against Koushi’s. “Sorry,” he breathed. “I just. I had to.”

 

“I’m glad you did,” Koushi said. “I’ve been wanting you to.”

 

“Really?” Koushi nodded. “I’m glad.”

 

“So what happens now?” Koushi asked, sitting down. Tanaka sat on his own bed across from him. Koushi slid his foot forward until it brushed against Tanaka’s, then left it there.

 

“I don’t know,” Tanaka admitted. “It depends on what Tsukishima wants. But now that we’ve found him, we have to go back to Tokyo eventually.”

 

“And when we get there?” Koushi asked. “Would you still want this?”

 

“This?” Tanaka asked in a way that implied he knew what Koushi meant, but wanted to hear it for himself. Koushi groaned.

 

“When we get back to Tokyo, will you be my boyfriend?” he asked. Tanaka grinned beautifully.

 

“I would be honored,” he said.

 

“Good,” said Koushi. “Because I really want you to kiss me again.”

 

“I think that could be arranged,” Tanaka said. Koushi laughed, picking himself up only to drop himself in Tanaka’s lap. He pressed a kiss to each of Tanaka’s cheeks, to the bridge of his nose, to the crown of his head, to his lips. Tanaka sighed happily, his hands coming up to hold Koushi by the waist and pull him closer. Koushi closed his eyes and gave himself over to the feeling of kissing his soulmate.

 

Maybe Akaashi was onto something after all.

 

-

 

“We were wondering if we could take you on a date, before we go back to Tokyo.” Kei blinked at Tanaka, not quite sure how to process what he was hearing.

 

“A date,” he repeated. “With me?”

 

“No, with the chair you’re sitting in,” Tanaka deadpanned. “Yes with you.”

 

“Oh.” Kei looked down at his hands twined awkwardly together in his lap.

 

“Is that okay?” Sugawara asked, cocking his head adorably. “Are _you_ okay?”

 

“Yeah,” Kei said quietly. “I’ll, uh. I’ll have to ask Yamaguchi first, but I don’t see why not.”

 

“Great!” Sugawara’s smile was bright enough to light up the room, and Kei found himself staring. He blinked rapidly and looked down at his hands again. “Text us when you know?” Kei nodded, glancing at his watch. If he left the coffee shop now, he’d still be a little early to work, which was something he usually avoided. But he couldn’t stomach the thought of staying here any longer with them smiling at him like that. So he stood, returning their goodbyes, and made his way out of the shop.

 

When he got to the station he pulled out his phone with trembling hands, not sure why he was so nervous about this.

 

ME: [They want to take me on a date]

ME: [I said yes, as long as it was okay with you]

ME: [Tadashi why did I say yes]

 

He didn’t have long to wait before his phone buzzed with an incoming call. “Tadashi,” he said in lieu of greeting.

 

“Tsukki please tell me you’re going on that date,” Yamaguchi said in a rush.

 

“Hello to you too.”

 

“Tsukki, you have to go on a date with them. I am begging you. I am calling on eighteen years of best friend privilege and demanding you go on a date with them.” Kei blinked.

 

“Why is this so important to you?” he asked.

 

“I have my reasons,” Yamaguchi said. “Where are they taking you?”

 

“I don’t know,” Kei said. “They just said they wanted to go on a date before they went home.”

 

“I think it’s a great idea,” Yamaguchi said. “And you have my wholehearted blessing to go, and to do anything else you want to with these two. Just let me know about it after.”

 

“What on earth do you think I’m going to be doing with them?” Kei sputtered. Yamaguchi laughed.

 

“Whatever you want, Tsukki. Whatever makes you happy.” A train passed by and they both fell silent until it had gone.

 

“Tadashi, I’m scared,” Kei admitted.

 

“I know you are, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi soothed. “But I think it’d be good to take a chance on these guys. And if it doesn’t work out, well. It’s just one date.”

 

“Just one date,” Kei agreed. He glanced at his watch. “My train’s going to be here soon. I’ll call you tonight?”

 

“Sounds good. Have a good day at work. I love you, Tsukki.” Kei smiled.

 

“I love you too.”

 

-

 

Ryuunosuke and Suga stood outside the aquarium in the golden early-evening light. Suga was dressed nicely, in a sweater and a pair of slacks he had packed in case there was something he needed to look especially good for. Ryuunosuke, when he had packed for this trip, had not thought he would need to dress to impress. So while Suga stood beside him looking like a literal angel come to earth, Ryuunosuke looked like he always did. Ripped jeans, black tank top, leather jacket, he looked like he was there to beat Suga up in a back alley and go through his pockets for milk money.

 

“You look fine,” Suga assured him. He bit his lip and looked Ryuunosuke up and down. “Better than fine.”

 

“I look like a punk,” Ryuunosuke said. “He’s probably gonna show up looking like-”

 

“Looking like what?” Ryuunosuke cut off at the sound of Tsukishima’s voice, almost afraid to look up at the sneer that accompanied that tone. He forced himself to turn, and almost wished he hadn’t.

 

Tsukishima looked like a young god. He wore a white button-up with the top couple of buttons undone and the sleeves rolled to his elbows and the front clinging to his skinny chest. His jeans were tight and black and endless on his equally endless legs, and his hair was just tousled enough to have been on purpose. His glasses glinted in the sunlight as he looked down his nose at Ryuunosuke. He had white headphones around his neck.

 

“Like that,” Ryuunosuke breathed. “Like one of the most beautiful people I have ever seen.”

 

Tsukishima seemed to grow uncomfortable at the compliment, though Ryuunosuke couldn’t imagine why. He had to get them all the time, looking like he did. Ryuunosuke scrambled for something to say, but luckily Suga saved them both.

 

“Yes, yes, Tsukishima looks very nice,” he said dismissively. “Now let’s go. I wanna see some deep sea abominations.” Ryuunosuke laughed and let Suga tug him inside by the wrist, reaching out to drag Tsukishima along with him. Suga paid for all three tickets, ignoring Ryuunosuke and Tsukishima’s protests, and all but skipped up to the first display. Ryuunosuke tore his eyes away from Suga long enough to look at the fish and his jaw dropped. He stepped closer, all but pressing his nose against the glass as he stared at the dance of colors before him. He could feel Suga looking at him, but he didn’t care. Not when there were so many fish to look at.

 

-

 

Kei didn’t know what he was doing, in a lot of ways. He didn’t know what he was doing with his life, beyond making rent and utilities and saving probably way too much thanks to his boring but well-paying job. He didn’t know what he was doing dating a man who was so much better than him in every way, but who met him on his level anyway. He didn’t know what he was doing on a date with two people he had just met.

 

He didn’t know what he was doing standing at their side, someone as boring as him. But when he watched Tanaka gasp and step up to the tank, entranced, when he watched Suga laugh softly and take Tanaka’s hand, looking at him more than the fish, when he looked at the two of them together, he knew. He wanted more of this. He wanted to keep looking at them, and he wanted them to keep looking at him.

 

He looked down at his wrist, at the needle pointing away to the south, toward Yamaguchi. The other two pointed straight ahead, at two more men he could never hope to deserve. Two more men who wanted him anyway. He pulled out his phone.

 

ME: [I don’t want to hear a single I told you so but]

ME: [I’m moving to Tokyo.]

 

TADASHI: [What changed your mind???]

 

Kei held his phone up and tried to discretely take a picture of Tanaka pointing at a fish and chattering excitedly at Suga. He was pretty sure Suga saw him take it, but he didn’t really care.

 

ME: [Attached: 1 img]

ME: [I really like them, Tadashi.]

 

TADASHI: [I’m so happy, Tsukki.]

 

Kei got the feeling it was true. And when Tanaka turned around to find Kei and waved him over in order to start chattering at him too, he had a feeling that Tadashi wasn’t the only one happy for him. He smiled.

 

ME: [I think I am too]

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr](http://notsuchasecret.tumblr.com)


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